We are well into the 2023 NBA season, with most teams distinguishing themselves from each other through the 82-game-season. The top teams have placed themselves relatively distanced from the rest of the pack so far, and lottery teams are becoming known to the masses. That does not mean that teams are not looking to improve their rosters during the short or long term because there could be movement around the league as early as in the last few weeks of November. Specifically, there could be movement between superstar players.
- Bradley Beal To The Boston Celtics
- Anthony Davis To The Golden State Warriors
- Kawhi Leonard To The Miami Heat
- Kevin Durant To The Phoenix Suns
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It is time to discuss 5 shocking trades that could happen right now because NBA general managers are endlessly looking for methods to make big moves in the trade market. The top teams are finding ways to improve their rosters, and while it won’t be easy, there could be some deals that would shake up the league in both the Western and Eastern Conferences. Without further ado, here are the 5 shocking trades that could occur that would ship out some top stars, including Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis, among others.
Zach LaVine To The New York Knicks
Trade Details: Zach LaVine for RJ Barrett, Derrick Rose, Obi Toppin, 2 Future First Round Picks
The New York Knicks are another team that struggled mightily last year, and Knicks fans were not happy about that. Julius Randle is an All-Star when he is in form, but he struggled from the floor this year and did not have an impact on the court. Remember, two years ago, Randle won Most Improved Player and earned his first All-Star selection, leading the Knicks back into the playoffs. This year, the Knicks are currently 8-7 in the Eastern Conference, which is good for 8th in the Eastern Conference.
LaVine is having a solid year by posting 22.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 4.2 APG on 38.2% from three, but is his production stagnating? He has yet to come close to competing for an NBA title and has 2 All-Star appearances at the age of 27. There is no guarantee for Zach that he will be in a position to actually win a title in New York, but being surrounded by Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Jalen Brunson could be better for him. A sensational athlete and one of the best perimeter scorers in the league, LaVine belongs to Madison Square Garden.
In order for New York to acquire a go-to scorer of LaVine’s caliber, it might have to come at the expense of another franchise player, RJ Barrett. New York needs to acquire an All-Star perimeter scorer who can create his own offense and score the ball consistently. Clearing the roster of an older point guard in Derrick Rose and a decent but unspectacular big in Obi Toppin also hands the keys to a massive market to LaVine. No doubt, this deal could work for both franchises that could be heading in different directions.
Of course, the Knicks will bring excitement back to their fanbase. The goal should be to move on from players who aren’t cutting it just yet and start building around LaVine should they acquire him. For Chicago, Rose gets a welcome back story, and Barrett can form a better pairing with DeMar DeRozan because he is very young at age 22 and has a very high ceiling. This deal would work best for both sides because Chicago isn’t necessarily going anywhere as currently constructed, and New York finally makes an Eastern Conference Finals push.
Bradley Beal To The Boston Celtics
Trade Details: Bradley Beal for Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, 2024 First-Round Pick, 2026 First-Round Pick, 2027 First-Round Pick
Boston is coming off an NBA Finals appearance because Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are a fantastic duo. The duo can score at an elite level and are improving other areas of their games as well. Tatum is a future superstar, averaging 31.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 4.1 APG while continuing his improvement as a go-to scorer in crunch time. With his skill set, Tatum has a chance to be one of the best scorers of all time. But he needs help, even if he has Jaylen Brown by his side, and that could come in the form of Bradley Beal.
The perfect player to join Tatum and Brown could be Bradley Beal, a perfect shooting guard to complete a dominant offensive Big Three. Tatum, Brown, and Beal will provide plenty of offense on the court as each can create their own offense. There are also multiple pieces of evidence that Beal does want to play with Jayson Tatum and that both are childhood friends, which could add smoke to a potential fire. The shooting guard is getting closer to 30 years of age and only has 3 All-Star appearances to show for his career, even if he made around $170,000,000 in his career so far. Joining the Celtics would do wonders for his career because he can actually compete instead of just making money and a few more All-Star Teams before his retirement.
Washington will likely ask for any valuable assets outside of Tatum and Brown, along with the plethora of valuable picks that the Celtics own. For years, the Celtics refused to move first-round picks for a superstar player, and they cannot afford to continue to do so when Beal could be available. There will always be talented offensive players in the league, but Beal is right in his prime, averaging 21.9 PPG per season, making him a seamless fit with Boston’s All-Star duo. Of course, Boston makes the move to boost their chances of winning it all after failing in the 2022 NBA Finals.
Meanwhile, the Wizards rebuild with 3 picks, a young center in Robert Williams, and a Defensive Player of the Year winner in Marcus Smart, who can be dangled for future assets as well. Washington won’t be winning anytime soon, so blowing it up makes the most sense for the franchise, especially since Beal could be forcing his way out soon. The biggest winner in this deal will be Bradley Beal, a player who could prove to be the difference for the Boston Celtics in their title run.
Anthony Davis To The Golden State Warriors
Trade Details: Anthony Davis for Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, 2023 First-Round Pick
Given that they are currently 6-9 in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors most likely need to make some adjustments. However, since the NBA Finals have not yet begun, the Warriors still have much to prove if they hope to contend with the Suns, Bucks, Clippers, and Celtics later in the playoffs. The Warriors could be, on paper, as good as the Bucks and Celtics after adding Anthony Davis, who is still one of the most talented big men of all time.
Anthony Davis has gone through the motions in Los Angeles, and even if his numbers are up from last year, nobody is convinced he is playing at his best. Following a disastrous 2021 season when Davis posted 23.2 PPG on 18.6% from three, he is averaging 24.3 PPG while pulling down an impressive 11.2 RPG. Those numbers could take a big boost if he has Stephen Curry beside him, who is a better player than LeBron James or Russell Westbrook is right now. Davis will also play in a system that allows him space to create offense when bolstered by elite shooters.
James Wiseman and Draymond Green are both solid players, but they are not Anthony Davis, a massively brilliant offensive player who also adds size to the defense. Green is aging, and Wiseman hasn’t shown much this season. No doubt, Davis improves the team’s lineup as he becomes the starting big man. It will be painful to lose Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, but it would be exciting to watch if Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green were joined by Anthony Davis. Golden State cannot take its success for granted, and Anthony Davis might put together another superteam for the first time since Kevin Durant’s final year in Oakland.
The Lakers will readily agree to this deal because they must win right now due to lost chances of winning the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. Poole, a scoring guard who will finally give the Purple and Gold scoring firepower, Kuminga, a young forward who has potential, and Andrew Wiggins, a perfect complement to LeBron James, round out the Purple and Gold’s new additions. This deal could actually work as a win-win, which is rare and could be one of the biggest deals in the modern era.
Kawhi Leonard To The Miami Heat
Trade Details: Kawhi Leonard for Jimmy Butler, Max Strus, 2023 First-Round Pick, 2028 First-Round Pick
Miami made the Finals three years ago thanks to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, although they were beaten down in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year. With key acquisition Kyle Lowry starting to find his rhythm, the Heat are right back in business, especially with Tyler Herro playing like an All-Star. They also have Victor Oladipo fighting to get back to form, forming a very solid lineup that can play defense and score with the best of them. But to grab Kawhi Leonard, arguably a top-3 player in the world when healthy, they will have to sacrifice franchise star Jimmy Butler.
Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard has missed far too many games in the last 3 years. He has not led the Los Angeles Clippers to the NBA Finals just yet, as the closest he got was the Western Conference Semi-Finals, and blew a shocking 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets. But his unavailability has been a major issue, as he has played a total of 55 games in three years, including this season. Even last night, Leonard played 25 minutes and made a comeback after 3 weeks because of injury. Yes, Kawhi is an injury-prone player, but he is a proven star, and he led the Raptors to the NBA championship against all odds in 2019. It is just a matter of time before the Clippers fans become tired of Kawhi’s load management, and Steve Ballmer could trade him in order to bring more picks and start a rebuild or even acquire a proven All-Star player who can bring the toughness and hustle for the Clippers.
On the Miami Heat’s side, if any person wants to risk trading their franchise star for Kawhi Leonard, it is Pat Riley. Butler is 33 years old and is putting up 20.9 PPG this season. Leonard is two years younger at 31 years old and is clearly a more dominant player, meaning Miami could take another step forward with a blockbuster deal of this caliber. The Clippers would also ask for first-round picks, and the Heat will have to answer accordingly. The title window for Miami is wide open because the East is winnable if they can acquire a player that can compete with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant. A lineup of Lowry, Herro, Leonard and Adebayo will likely return to the Finals and win it all.
The Heat are all about winning, and they cannot afford to keep running it back. Losing Butler, their best player since Dwyane Wade retired, will hurt. But they can replace him with an all-time great talent in Kawhi. For the Clippers, there could be a risk that Leonard is still not healthy and could want a change in scenery. Perhaps the sun of Miami could do him good, and even if it takes another year for the forward to get healthy, the Heat can wait. Remember, Leonard is two years younger than Butler, and next season, they can bring in the likes of Russell Westbrook, who will be a free agent. For the Clippers, they can rebuild and end the “load management” drama once and for all. Jimmy and Paul George are also a nice duo on both ends of the court.
Kevin Durant To The Phoenix Suns
Trade Details: Kevin Durant for Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, 2024 First-Round Pick, 2026 First-Round Pick, 2027 First-Round Pick
It is no secret that the Phoenix Suns can offer the most attractive package for the Brooklyn Nets because they have two studs in Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges, who play on both ends of the floor at a high level. After Chris Paul and Devin Booker, these two players have been most important in Phoenix’s revival in the West as they made the NBA Finals in 2021. Of course, last year, the Suns fell flat on their face due to the brilliance of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs.
The main focus of this blockbuster deal is, without a doubt, Kevin Durant. The superstar forward is posting 30.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 5.2 APG on 52.9% FG, 34.7% 3-PT FG, and 91.3% FT. Durant can score better than most players in the league, clearly, and is putting up MVP numbers for a below-average Brooklyn Nets team that most likely won’t have Kyrie Irving for much longer. It is shocking how the Nets did not blow up their roster and believed that Kyrie would magically come around and be a focused basketball player. It won’t happen, and Durant has been forced to play with subpar teammates. He said it best, how do people expect KD to win in Brooklyn right now? The team is 7-9 through 16 games, and even Ben Simmons has not been much help (6.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 5.7 APG). For the sake of 34-year-old Kevin Durant, he belongs on a team that has the pieces to compete for a title.
With Chris Paul aging, the Suns need to make changes to help the point guard lead the franchise to the Finals again. With Kevin Durant, Phoenix forms the best Big Three in the NBA under one of the best young head coaches in Monty Williams. Durant, Chris Paul, and Devin Booker are three extremely talented players who can win games single-handedly. Sure, Phoenix will gut their starting lineup by losing three starters, but even in combination, they cannot replace 30 PPG, which Durant is very capable of putting up every game.
The Nets get two young players who are worthy of being starters for at least a decade, and they also fit nicely alongside Ben Simmons, assuming the Australian star wants to stay in Brooklyn too. The Nets do not want to rebuild around young players, as they recently acquired Royce O’Neale to bolster their depth. If the Suns can acquire the Suns’ duo of young studs and also add in three first-round picks, they have done very well in moving on from one of the game’s greatest-ever talents in Kevin Durant. Of course, the Suns place themselves right in the mix to be the favorite to come out of the Western Conference, thanks to their newly formed Big Three. It is important to note that Deandre Ayton cannot be traded from the Suns until at least January 15, 2023. Even then, Ayton has veto power over any trade for an entire year.
